Arch wrote:
Hi Harry,
Thanks for your ideas and what you do. Just to invite opinions and not
to disagree with what you and the rest of us are often forced to do.
I've sometimes gone farther and fared worse by letting the wood's size
and form dictate what my turned object's size and form will be. I've
turned some sad abortions by trying to get the largest possible turning
out of a piece of wood.

IOW, whenever possible I think it's best to turn to our design not the
blank's. Not everyone will agree and of course, there's a big difference
between wasting the wood we bought and the wood we found.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter

I've listened but I've never heard a piece of wood say a word. I try to never, ever let figured wood dictate form at the expense of good form itself. The ultimate success of a piece depends on it's form. I always have a form in mind when starting on a blank. On occassion, flaws, a change in grain or whatever, may cause me to change that form while I'm turning but not without some planning. Beautiful figured wood is wonderful but without good form it's wasted.

When I'm teaching classes I always have the students use plain wood. I
don't want figured wood to get in the way of learning good form.

Anybody can learn to use the tools, but not everybody learns what makes
good form and can use it in his/her turnings.

Wally

http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings